Monday, March 30, 2009

By just being here and reading this article right now you have taken an important step in the right direction towards achieving your fat loss and muscle building goals. We all want to have the perfect body, but as you know most people just "hope" that someday they'll get around to losing the fat and getting in shape. However, you are actually taking action and looking for a solution. So for that I have a lot of respect for you and what you are trying to achieve.

Now with that being said, there is no shortage of "fitness solutions". Heck, a single google search on how to lose fat or how to build muscle will bring up literally millions of results. And here on my Total Fitness Bodybuilding website I share some of my very best "How To" tips with regards to proper weight training, cardio, eating, supplementation, etc. that you'll need to follow in order to transform your physique.

But knowing what to do isn't enough. Let's face it everyone knows "What To Do" to some extent. We all know that we should exercise regularly, that we should eat a healthy diet, that we should drink plenty of water, and all that stuff. But how many people have the fitness motivation to actually do it?

You need to have a big enough reason "Why" you want to be lean, fit, athletic, and muscular in order to have the motivation and determination to do all the "How To" stuff to begin with, and then actually stick to your program over the long term so that you achieve your fitness goals.

Here is an important exercise that you can do RIGHT NOW that will help move you even closer towards achieving the body of your dreams.

Open up a new word processing document on your computer right now and just jot down at least a dozen reasons for why you want to get in your best shape ever. And get real honest with yourself, what are those deep emotional and often irrational selfish reasons that you have for wanting to get in great shape?

Very often the logical and practical ones like: it will improve my health, lower my blood pressure, lower my cholesterol, reduce my risk of heart disease, etc. are not the "hot buttons" that will move you to action. No one really gets excited and passionate about lowering your cholesterol (unless your doctor says it is dangerously high and you are in risk of serious health issues).

But most everyone would get excited about the idea of being able to take your shirt off and feel proud of how your body looks, rather then worrying about a soft flabby gut hanging over your belt.

Imagine having the type of body that commands attention and respect everywhere you go, that causes people to stop and do a double take when you walk by because you are in such good shape. Picture how good it will feel to get the attention from the opposite sex and have them hit on you (rather then the other way around :-). And how cool would it be to be one of the fittest guys in the gym and have people complementing you on how good you look and then asking YOU for training advice?

We all have our own reasons for why we want to get in shape, often times the real motivating ones feel so silly and foolish that we wouldn't even tell anyone about them. But those are the ones that will actually keep you on track, help you stick to your plan and follow through. So take a few minutes right now and think about what those reasons are for you.

Think of all the benefits you'll experience from being lean and ripped. Maybe it is so you can fit into your old clothes again. Or so you can go out and buy new clothes that will highlight your new athletic physique. Or maybe it has nothing to do with the clothes and you just want to look good naked. Imagine how awesome it would feel to get "intimate" with that special someone while sporting a lean muscular body with a trim waist and visible 6-pack abs!

And also think of all the negative things you'll move away from and the embarrassments and frustrations you'll avoid...

Maybe you are fed up with feeling like a fat lazy slob and now you are going to do something about it. Maybe you are sick and tired of being made fun of for being chubby and out of shape. Or on the other side; maybe you've been picked on for being too skinny and were called "Chicken Legs" one too many times and had enough. Maybe it is to avoid feeling self conscious and inadequate compared to the more athletic guys at the gym. Maybe it is your way of getting back at someone and getting your revenge, or to make an ex-girl friend jealous for leaving you (that's one I heard someone mention recently). Whatever it is, write it down. You don't have to share this with anyone but keep it for yourself and review it on a regular basis. Use the carrot and the stick so that you have every possible motivating factor working to your advantage and pushing you towards achieving the body of your dreams.

Psychologists have proven over and over again that the reason for doing something is much more powerful than how you get the job done. If you have a strong enough reason WHY you want to burn fat, gain muscle, and transform your body then you will find a way to do it. It's as simple as that.

Obviously, you probably already have an idea of what some of the motivating factors are right now. Otherwise you wouldn't even be here and reading this article right now. But take the time to write them down and make them even more clear and specific. Then review this daily, tweak it, and refine it so that you know EXACTLY what you want, and also know what you DON'T want when it comes to achieving your best body ever!

And if you are looking for some killer "How To" information then you should pick up a copy of my Total Fitness Bodybuilding Video Training System. This isn't just anther "workout video", it's a complete system for muscle building success. If you are looking for a straight forward and honest no hype, no BS, no gimmicks type of training program that delivers the FACTS of what you need to do and how to do it when it comes to building muscle, burning bodyfat, and getting in the best shape of your life, then you owe it to yourself to get your copy today at: http://www.LeeHayward.com/dvd

Saturday, March 28, 2009

If you have been involved with the iron game for any length of time then you probably know that good old fashion barbell squats are one of the best overall muscle building exercises you can do.

Not only do squats target the legs, but they also provide muscle stimulation all through the hips, glutes, abs, obliques, lower back, spinal erectors, traps, shoulders, and even to a smaller degree the chest, lats, and arms.

Now even though squats are a "super exercise" they are one of the most challenging and uncomfortable exercises to perform. Part of the reason is that there is a big learning curve when it comes to getting the proper form, coordination, and confidence to perform a proper squat.

One of the big hurdles that holds most beginners and intermediate lifters back from progressing faster in the squat is that the bar digs into the back of their shoulders causing pain and discomfort.

Can you relate to this? Have you felt the pain in your upper back from squatting and then wrapped a foam pad or towel around the bar to try and make it easier on the shoulders? If you have then chances are it didn't provide as much padding as you thought it would, and most likely it threw off your squatting form even more as the padding often causes the bar to slide down your back.

So how do we over come this painful squatting dilemma?

You toughen up your back so you can comfortably handle the bare bar on your back with the help of Hise Shrugs...

The Hise Shrug was invented by Joseph Curtis Hise, who also happened to invent the 20 rep squat routine (aka: Squats & Milk Program) back in the 1930's.

Chances are you have never heard of Hise Shrugs before even though it is an awesome movement for building up the traps, upper back, and all the muscles of the shoulder complex.

You do this exercise by shouldering a barbell, just like you were going to do a set of squats (skip the padding and just use the bare bar). Keep your legs straight during the entire exercise. Simply shrug or hunch your shoulders up. You will feel your traps contract hard, hold this position for a second. Then relax your shoulders back down, then repeat.

Do this exercise 2 times per week for 4 sets of 10-15 reps. You can do it as part of a back or shoulder workout, as these are the muscles that come into play.

Within a few weeks you should be able to handle just as much weight as you can squat. Granted this exercise will feel a bit uncomfortable at first, but it's a lot easier then squatting because you just have to worry about shrugging the bar.

After about month of doing Hise Shrugs in a progressive overload fashion you'll be able to do regular barbell squats with the bare bar across your back and experience no pain.

It's a small investment in time and effort for a huge pay off in muscle building results. Give it a try in your workouts and leave me a comment below to let me know how it works for you.

If you would like to learn about more unique muscle building exercises then get a copy of my Total Fitness Bodybuilding DVD. In this 3 disc set I cover over 100 muscle building exercises that will help you take your overall muscular development to a whole new level.

Friday, March 27, 2009

I just picked up a flip video camera and this is my initial test run video with it and I'm quite surprised with the overall video quality for such a small camera. I'm going to be using this camera to help me create even more workout and nutrition video clips along with a Total Fitness Bodybuilding DVD of the month program. This will provide you with more in depth training and nutrition information, motivation, along with practical tips that you can use day to day to make it easier to stick to a healthy bodybuilding lifestyle and build the lean muscular body that you truly want.

A lot of diet and nutrition experts recommend eating several smaller meals per day rather than eating the typical 3 square meals per day. The thinking behind this is that frequent feedings will help speed up the metabolism and burn more calories from the energy used to digest the food.

But does this really work in the real world?

There was a study done by Drs. M A Taylor and J S Garrow from King's College London UK (Int. J. Obesity 25: 519-528, 2001) that measured the energy expenditure from eating 6 meals per day vs. 2 meals per day. The test subjects ate the same number of total calories, but the first group ate that food in 6 small meals and the second group ate the same amount of food in 2 big meals.

The results of the study showed that there was No Difference in the energy expenditure from eating 6 meals per day or 2 meals per day. This goes to show that the key to losing weight (or gaining it) is the total caloric intake and not the meal frequency.

Now with that being said there is still some benefits to dividing up your food intake up over the course of the day because it is easier to digest and generally more comfortable on the stomach to eat lighter more frequent meals.

However, when it comes to sticking with a serious fat loss diet, one trick that I've used personally and have shared with several of my personal coaching students with great results, is once you are following a structured fat loss eating plan and you want to further reduce your caloric intake to create an even greater caloric deficit. Rather then cutting back on your portion sizes and eating smaller meals to the point where you have to eat a few bites of food and then leave the table hungry. Keep the meal size the same and just eat fewer meals.

When I start a pre-contest fat loss diet I'll begin with 6 meals per day, then cut back to 5 meals, then 4 meals, and for the last few weeks before a show I'll even drop down to just 3 meals per day. The meal size stays consistent and this allows me to leave the table comfortably full, but I'm creating a caloric deficit simply by eating fewer meals and less food over the course of the day.

This is one of the tricks I used to shed over 40 pounds of ugly bodyfat and get contest ripped in just the matter of months as you can see in the pics below:

If you'd like to get more advanced fat loss diet strategies then you should pick up a copy of my new book "Your First Bodybuilding Competition" this is a complete fat loss training guide that is designed to help bodybuilders and figure competitors get super lean and ripped in record time.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The forearm extensors are the most neglected muscle group when it comes to grip and forearm training. Most people just focus on the muscles that close the hand, but the forearm extensors (the muscles that open the hand) must be trained as well for maximal development. Just like you wouldn't train your biceps and forget about your triceps, the same idea applies when it comes to your forearms.

One of the best forearm extensor exercises for strengthening the grip is Rubber Band Finger Extensions.

Just get a thick rubber band and place your fingers and thumb inside the band. Spread your fingers as wide as possible, close them, and repeat. You can also do the same thing with your thumb and each finger individually.

This is also an excellent exercise for anyone who suffers from elbow tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome because it helps balance out the muscles in the wrists and forearms, which can help relieve the pain and strain on the tendons.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

You may recall a couple posts ago about a nasty nosebleed deep inside my sinuses that actually put me in hospital for a few days. Well things are on the mend and so far so good. I've been taking it easy all week and never had any problems. In fact today I went to the gym just for some easy cardio on the treadmill, nothing serious but I wanted to do something as I really miss working out. Hopefully by this time next week I should be good to start weight training again.

Anyway, while I was doing my cardio on the treadmill I was flipping through a magazine, not just any magazine, but a Woman's Fitness Magazine...

Now I know you are probably asking yourself; "Why in the world is Lee reading a woman’s fitness magazine?" Well, first of all it was rolled up and tucked in the water bottle holder on the treadmill, but besides that you'll see more pics of hot sexy girls wearing skimpy clothes in a woman's magazine then you will in a men's magazine so it's not that bad at all LOL :-)

As I was flipping through the pages one article in particular caught my attention, it was about Core Training. Now as I'm sure you already know this whole thing about "core training" is the big buzz in the fitness industry these days. Fitness infomercials and exercise gimmicks all talk about how they can strengthen your "core" as if it were the next best thing since sliced bread. But strengthening your core (aka; working your mid-section) is as old as dirt.

So the thing that caught my attention with this particular article was that it said the 2 best exercises you can do to strengthen your core are squats and deadlifts...

Now I know all you regular gym going muscle heads are saying: "Duh, of course squats and deadlifts are the 2 best core exercises, in fact they are 2 of the best exercises period".

But the cool thing was that this was an article in a woman's magazine! Finally some real honest training information and not some stupid lift soup cans workout BS. The article even referenced a study done in the Journal Of Exercise Physiology that showed doing squats and deadlifts were 70% more effective at building the core muscles around the mid-section then doing a workout consisting of 5 different stability ball exercises.

So if you want to build some real muscle, regardless if you are a man or a woman, don't waste your time farting around with the fancy looking isolation mumble jumble moves and get back to the basics of good old fashion barbell squats and deadlifts. Not just for a strong core, but for a strong body all over.

Monday, March 16, 2009

I just got discharged from hospital a couple hours ago, after spending the last 3 days in there...

Friday night around mid-night, just after I got into bed I felt some blood trickling down the back of my throat. I got up figuring I just had a nosebleed from the dry air in the house from having the electric heat on, something that does happen to me occasionally in the wintertime.

But this one wasn't like a normal nosebleed because I couldn't stop it. I tried pinching my nose for 15 minutes, tried packing it with cotton swabs and antiseptic gel, and all that stuff that you should do to get rid of a nosebleed, while these things helped slow down the bleeding a bit, it didn’t stop it.

So getting a bit worried I went to the emergency room at the Health Science Hospital. The emergency room doctor used a freeze spay to numb my nose, then packed it with a gauze soaked in mixture of adrenaline and cocaine to help constrict the blood vessels... But it didn't work, my nose was still bleeding!

So then they sent me to Saint Clare's Hospital (another hospital here in town) where they are better equipped to deal with nosebleeds. Anyway, to make a long story short after a while of poking, probing, and vacuum suctioning the blood away the ENT specialist found out that there was a blood vessel broken deep inside my nose.

So to stop the bleeding he packed it with a nasal pack that looked like a 5 inch styrofoam Popsicle stick and he jammed the full thing right into my nose! Talk about painful, I screamed out loud and said some things that I won’t repeat here. Then he squirted some water like solution inside my nose to expand the pack.

This eventually controlled the bleeding because the pack was deep inside my nasal passage and putting pressure on the broken blood vessel. Then the fun part... the doc said:

"We're going to have to keep you in here for at least 48 hours to make sure it doesn't start bleeding again."

Anyway after 3 days and 2 luxurious nights of being bedridden, doped up on painkillers, and dining on the "fine hospital cuisine" I'm home again. And the worst part is that I'm not allowed to workout or do anything strenuous for full 2 weeks because I may accidentally break open the blood vessel again.

That's the worse one for me. I can't remember the last time I took 2 weeks off from working out all together. Heck, even if I'm injured I'd still go to the gym and work around the injury. But this time around I can’t do anything physically demanding. I'm sure the break from the gym will probably be for the greater good in the big picture, but for now it's going to be a long 2 weeks...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Over the last few posts I outlined some realistic long term goals that you can strive to achieve when it comes to gaining muscular bodyweight, size, and strength. Now I'm sure you understand the importance behind setting goals and working hard to achieve them, but you may not always take the time to continually track and monitor your progress to ensure you are on the right track for achieving those goals.

The reason I'm brining this up is because I've been guilty of neglecting this myself on occasion. Even though I go through the actions of working out, eating consistently, and all that "stuff". I sometimes get lazy and don't always chart and keep track of my progress as often as I should to ensure that those action steps are moving me closer towards my goals.

But the real key to maximizing your results in the gym, or in any other area of your life for that matter, is tracking and monitoring your progress. What you measure and focus on gets improved.

Progress happens at such a gradual pace that if you don't have an accurate system in place for monitoring it then it's hard to know if you are moving forward or not. And very often it only takes a slight tweak here and there to keep you moving in the right direction towards your goals.

A prime example of this is with competitive bodybuilders when they are preparing for a contest. During the months leading up the show they will make some incredible "before and after" physique transformations.

A big part of those transformations is due to the fact that they are meticulous when it comes to measuring and monitoring their progress. They know what their bodyweight, bodyfat percentage, and body measurements are at all times. They know how much food they are eating day in and day out. They keep a training log with how much cardio they are doing, what they are doing in the gym with regards to their weight training, etc. Nothing is left to chance.

If you watch a pre-contest bodybuilder in the gym working out they will be focused and serious about their training, but then so are a lot of the other gym regulars that you see on a regular basis. In fact from an outsider's point of view, the regular gym goers may appear just as committed, and working just as hard as the competitive bodybuilders.

So why are the average gym goers not getting the same results? The reason is because the average gym goers are not keeping track and monitoring their progress at the same level as the bodybuilders.

Don't make the mistake of assuming that just because you are taking action that you will automatically get the results you want.

When all the stars are aligned with your workout and nutrition program, you will make small, but noticeable changes on a weekly basis. If you go a couple weeks with no changes at all, then you need to re-evaluate your approach and find out what areas of your program needs adjustment.

It may be something as simple as changing up a few exercises in your routine, it may be that you have to increase your cardio, and sometimes it maybe that you actually need to back off and do less so that you give your body more recovery time.

With your diet you may need to eat more, eat less, change up the foods you eat, or change the frequency of your meals. The actual changes themselves will depend on the individual and his/her training goals. Monitoring progress and adjusting things accordingly is something that I specialize in with my Customized Diet & Training Programs at: http://www.LeeHayward.com/dietplans.htm

In my next post I'll share the exact things you need to do and the specific tools you'll need to monitor your progress and keep yourself on track for muscle building success.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

How strong is strong? What is the standard by which you measure your strength in the gym and how do you stack up to other gym members?

In the previous posts I mentioned a couple ways to measure muscular development. Now some people made comments and sent me e-mails saying how they didn’t agree with what I was saying and that they didn’t want to be “that big”.

Maybe I wasn’t clear in the post because the suggestions mentioned were not how big the average gym goer or fitness enthusiast should be, it was referring to what is a realistic goal for maximum muscular development that one could strive to achieve after several years of progressive training.

If you are not at that size yet, that’s fine, few people are. However, it is a goal you can strive to acheive. And if you don’t want to take your physique to those levels then that’s ok as well. Not everyone who joins the gym has the desire to maximize their muscular potential. And that’s cool, to each their own.

With that being said I’m going to outline some guidelines that you can go by to measure your physical strength with some big basic compound lifts.

Squats & Deadlifts:Shoot for at least 150% of your bodyweight for 12 reps.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

If you get caught up with reading the purported measurements listed in the muscle magazines of the top bodybuilding super stars you will have the impression that everyone is 250+ lbs. with 23 inch arms 57 inch chests and 29 inch waists and everything else in perfect proportion. And just like any good story, most of these measurements are just "slightly" over exaggerated.

Now don't get me wrong, there are a heck of a lot of big bodybuilders out there with very impressive measurements. But one that really bugs the heck out of me is all these 250 lb. bodybuilders who supposedly have sub 30 inch waistlines… Heck I've competed several times under 200 lbs. in contest condition and never had my waist drop below 30 inches.

Anyway, most of the measurements that you'll read about will only lead to mislead, confuse, and frustrate and serve as false guidelines of ideal muscular development. So what are some realistic body size measurements that you can strive to achieve?

Get yourself a tape measure and measure your wrist just above the bone that sticks out to the side. This will give you an idea of your bone structure and then allow you to guesstimate what your ideal body proportions should be.

Multiply the size of your wrist by 6.5 and you'll have a realistic idea of how big your chest should be when fully developed. Now since your chest is a major muscle group we'll use this to help determine the proportion of the rest of your body.

Your waist should be approx. 70% of your chest measurement.

Your hips should be about 85% of your chest measurement.

Upper arms should be approx. 36% and ideally your calves, neck and upper arms should all be the same measurement.

Forearms should be around 29%.

And your upper thighs should be 53% of your chest measurement.

So for an example a man with a 7 inch wrist (small bone structure), a well developed muscular physique would measure as follows:

Now like I mentioned in my previous post about bodyweight, these measurements are not set in stone. They are just a guideline to go by. I'd put more faith in the mirror and how I feel then simply going by what the tape measure says.

Some of you may think that these measurements are on the conservative side, but keep in mind these are real honest numbers here, not some ego inflated, blow out of proportion numbers. Trust me, if you achieve something in proportion to these measurements most likely your physique will be very impressive to look at, and one that you can be proud to show off at the beach, the pool, or where ever…

Just as an extra note just look at the bicep shot below. This pic was taken in May 2008 a few weeks before I competed in the Newfoundland Provincial Championships. My wrist measurement is 7 inches exactly and my upper arms in this pic are just under 17 inches (again a real honest measurement). So I'm right in line with the proportions mentioned in this example.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

When it comes to "bodybuilding" in the pure sense (i.e. building your body) there needs to be a method in place by which you can measure your progress and know when you have arrived at your ideal muscular destination.

Rather then aimlessly lifting and pumping iron day after day with no real goal in sight, there has to be something by which you can judge your progress by and know when you have made it. Otherwise how will you ever know when you can ring the bell and have the satisfaction of announcing to the world that you have gone from being small, skinny and scrawny to big, buff and brawny.

Now with that being said, I don't believe that there should ever be an end to working out. It is something you need to do as part of your lifestyle. If for nothing else then just the health benefits that regular exercise provides. But it would be nice to have a goal to shoot for

I've been doing some reading about various ways to judge your muscle building progress. And while there is no cut and dried answer to the question "How Big Should You Be?" there are some good guidelines that you can follow.

The simple system that I'm about to share with you here can be used as the yardstick by which you measure your bodybuilding progress.

Bodyweight

Let's start off with the easiest method by which to monitor your muscle building progress - bodyweight. The first thing to keep in mind here is that "normal" bodyweights that these body mass index charts use (such as the ones that life insurance companies and doctors tend to use) are not relevant to a well-developed muscular body.

Also a given bodyweight is no guarantee of a particular level of muscle size or strength. So treat your bodyweight as a guideline, not an absolute rule.

Start with a baseline bodyweight of 100 lbs. for a person who is 5 foot tall. And then add 10 lbs. for every inch in height. So a man who is 5'10 tall should weigh approx. 200 lbs. that would be considered an average build. Then for a muscular build add 30-40 lbs. to that weight. So a well built muscular man who is 5'10 tall should weigh around 230+ lbs.

Remember again that this is just a guideline, some people will be able to carry more or less size depending on their particular body type and structure. Someone with a smaller frame and smaller bone structure would look bigger at a certain bodyweight then someone else who has a large frame and heavier bone structure. This is evident in bodybuilding competitions where sometimes a lighter weight class competitor may actually look bigger then some of the heavier weight class competitors.

But again just calculate your baseline bodyweight from this simple formula and you'll get a good idea of how much size you'll need to gain to have a "muscular build".

Tomorrow I'll cover another method of monitoring your bodybuilding gains by showing you a formula for calculating out your body size and proportions.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Two of the best exercises for working the brachialis and building nice bicep peak are the overhead cable curl from the lat pull down machine. And the reverse grip low pulley cable curl.

These exercises really target and isolate the biceps and help develop more muscle fullness and shape. The brachialis muscle is right under the biceps and when it is fully developed it will help push the biceps up higher, adding to the overall muscle peak.

Do these exercises at the end of your bicep workouts as a finishing movement. Start with a heavy power exercise first, such as the standing barbell curl or dumbbell curl, and then move on to the overhead cable curls, and then do the low pulley cable reverse curls. 3-4 sets of about 10-15 reps per set will really give your biceps a great muscle pumping workout.

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About Me

I got started working out when I was 12 years old. In 1990 my dad gave me a home gym for Christmas, it was a York 2001 machine and a York barbell and dumbbell set. From that point on I was hooked on working out.
During high school I worked out consistently and I would read every bodybuilding and fitness magazine that I could get my hands on. I’d get bodybuilding and exercise books from the library. I would record every bodybuilding contest that was on television and watch them over and over again. I was obsessed with learning as much about bodybuilding, exercise and nutrition as I could. While in my last year of high school I entered my first Bodybuilding contest, The 1995 Newfoundland Provincials, I was 17 years old at the time. Since then I have competed almost every year in bodybuilding competitions.

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